Ski stopping structure

ABSTRACT

A stop structure for skis consisting of a plate member secured to a ski adjacent the rear of a ski boot, a spring tensioned arm journaled in said plate member, said arm being adapted to swing forwardly outwardly of the ski in the direction of said boot and said arm in operative cocked position bearing against the upper heel portion of said ski boot.

United States Patent [191 Bovee Dec. 25, 1973 SKI STOPPING STRUCTURE[76] Inventor: Boyd L. Bovee, Box 268, Conde, S.

Dak. 57434 [22] Filed: Nov. 17, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 307,592

[52] US. Cl. 280/ll.l3 B

[51] Int. Cl A63c 7/10 [58] Field of Search 280/11.13 B, 11.13 C, 280/11.37 E

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Gertsch 280/] 1.13 B

3,195,911 7/1965 Cubberly 280/11.13 B

Primary Examiner-Kenneth H. Betts Assistant ExaminerDavid M. MitchellAtt0meyLeo Gregory [5 7] ABSTRACT A stop structure for skis consistingof a plate member secured to a ski adjacent the rear of a ski boot, aspring tensioned arm journaled in said plate member, said arm beingadapted to swing forwardly outwardly of the ski in the direction of saidboot and said arm in operative cocked position bearing against the upperheel portion of said ski boot.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SKI STOPPING STRUCTURE BACKGROUND ANDSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a ski stoppingstructure to stop the travel of a loose ski.

It is desirable to have a stop structure for a ski which is free inoperation from any engagement with the bindings securing the ski bootthereon or with the sole portion thereof.

The nearest related structure appears to be disclosed in U. S. LettersPat. No. 3,195,9ll dated July 20, 1965, to M. H. Cubberley in which theski arresting device is mounted in a position forwardly of the toebinding for a ski boot and comprises a bracket plate in an obliqueangular relationship to the longitudinal axis of the ski and having anarm parallel to the edge of the ski to underlie the toe portion of theski boot. There exists a possibility of entanglement between the leverarm comprising the stopping member of the device and the closelyadjacent binding structure and such entanglement has been known to occurin actual practice.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a ski stoppingstructure which in operative position is free from the possibility ofentanglement with a ski binding.

It is another object of this invention to provide a ski stoppingstructure which is held in a cocked operative position by bearingagainst a portion of a ski boot remote from any portion of the bootsole.

It is also an object of this invention wherein the size of the skistopping member is free from any restrictions which might be dictated bythe design of the structure of the ski boot bindings.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a ski stoppingstructure which is situated to be free from being frozen into aninoperative position such as by underlying a sole portion of a ski boot.

More generally it is an object of this invention to provide a skistopping structure which includes a bracket plate disposed substantiallyat right angles to the longitudinal axis of the ski, an arm memberhaving a portion journaled in said bracket plate, a helical torsionspring disposed about said journaled portion of said arm, said arm beingcurved upwardly inboard of said ski having an upper terminal portionwhich bears against the upper portion of a ski boot to be cocked inoperating position and said arm upon removal of said boot from said skibeing disposed to swing forwardly to a ski stopping operative positiveoutboard of said ski.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be setforth in the following description made in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a broken view in top plan showing the structure herein inoperating position;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. I in side elevation and FIG. 3 is aview thereof in end elevation; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing a modification of thestructure herein.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIGS. I-3, abroken portion of a ski is shown comprising an upper surface portion 11and a side edge portion 12 which will be referred to as the outer edgeof said ski. Disposed on said ski is a ski boot 15 of a conventionaldesign and securing the same in position is a conventional type of skibinding 17. Ref erence is made to a ski binding per se of which thereare a variety of designs as to structure and neither the particulardesign of the ski boot nor of the ski bindings form a part of thestructure comprising the invention herein. A type of binding isindicated which has its rear structure closely adjacent the ski boot andthis is on the order ofa Besser or Gertsch binding which bindings areknown in the art. For purpose of reference the upper rear portion 10 ofsaid ski boot is sometimes referred to as the upper heel portion.

The structure comprising the invention herein is indicated generally bythe reference numeral 25. Said structure comprises a bracket platemember 27 extending crosswise of the ski substantially at right anglesto the longitudinal axis thereof and is suitably secured thereto as byscrews 28. Said plate is disposed closely adjacent the rear of the skiboot and of the portion of the binding securing the heel portion of saidboot.

In the embodiment of the bracket plate member here shown, a plateportion 29 integral therewith is angled upwardly therefrom in thedirection of the outer edge 12 of said ski. Said plate portion will beangled upwardly in the direction of the right hand side of the right skiand of the left hand side of the left ski. Said angled portion may besomewhat outboard of the ski but not more so preferably than the widthof the ski boot and preferably it may be angled upwardly on the order of3045 to the horizontal.

Said angled portion 29 of said bracket plate member has a pair ofupstanding spaced bearing plates 32 and 33 extending inboard of the skisubstantially at right angles to said angled plate portion and saidbearing plates have aligned bores 32a and 33a therethrough formingbearings. Said angled portion has a finger like outboard projection 34forming a stop member as will be further described.

A braking arm 35 is provided having a lower portion 36 thereof journaledin said bearing plates and extending through said plate 32 and havingits lower free end flanged as at 37 forming a stop to retain saidjournaled portion in said bearing plates. A helical torsion spring 40 isdisposed about the journaled portion of said arm between said bearingplate members having one end 42 thereof engaging the edge portion of thebearing plate 30 and having its other end 43 secured about a pin 44disposed through said arm.

Said braking arm 35 has an upper portion 38 curved inboard of the skifrom said journaled portion 36 to have its upper terminal portion 39positioned to be centered upon the upper heel portion 20 of said skiboot. Said terminal portion may be variously formed and it is here shownas being semi-spherical in form having its convex surface portion 39abearing against and engaging said boot and its concave surface portion39b will form a scoop in braking the loose ski to a stop when the arm isin operating braking position.

It will be noted that said torsion spring is secured and disposed tohave said arm 35 cocked under spring tension when moved upwardlyrearwardly to the rear of the ski boot to bear thereagainst and said armwill be under sufficient operating tension that when said ski boot isbroken free from the bindings, said arm will swing forwardly anddownwardly outboard of the ski to dig into the snow to stop the slidingmovement of the ski. Reference is had to the illustration shown in FIG.3 and particularly to the dotted portion thereof.

MODIFICATION A modification of the structure above described is providedin which like reference numerals will indicate like elements ofstructure.

A bearing bracket member indicated generally by the reference numeral 50comprises a base plate portion 51 extending crosswise of said skiadjacent the rear of said boot l5 and of the bindings 18 thereof and issuitably secured as by screws 52. Said bracket is formed having anupright wall 53 having as an upward inward or inboard extension thereofa plate portion 54 angled inwardly therefrom and having secured thereinand disposed therethrough a bearing sleeve 56 which preferably will beheld by said plate portion 54 as by being welded thereto to have itsaxis disposed on the order of 30-45 with respect to the horizontal andupwardly in the direction of the outer edge of the ski.

A braking arm 60 is provided having a lower stem portion 62 having itsend portion journaled into said sleeve 56 and having its lower free end63 extending therethrough and being flanged to retain said stern portionwithin said sleeve.

The upper portion 65 of said arm is curved inboard of said ski and ishere shown being curved through a somewhat wider arc than was the casewith the arm 38 first above described and said arm is shown having asemi-spherical terminal portion 67 having its convex side engaging theupper end portion of said ski boot.

Disposed about said stem portion 62 above said sleeve 56 is a helicaltorsion spring 70 having its lower end portion 71 disposed through anaccommodating aperture in said plate portion 54 and having its upper endportion 73 secured about a pin 75 disposed through and secured in saidarm portion 62.

Extending from said arm portion 62 adjacent the upper portion of saidsleeve 56 is a stop pin 77 which engages a projection 78 extendingoutwardly somwhat outboard of said ski as being struck from said platemember portion 53 which projection upon engagement by said pin 77 holdssaid arm 60 in operating braking position as indicated in dotted line inFIG. 4.

It is believed clear from the description that the modifred form of theinvention herein like the preferred embodiment permits the braking armto swing forwardly and downwardly outboard of the ski and in advance ofthe bindings thereon to dig into the snow to stop sliding ski movement.Said braking arm is free from any contact with the sole of the ski bootand avoids being frozen into such position. Further the design of thebraking arm is free from any restriction which might otherwise beimposed by the design of the ski bindings. It will of course beunderstood that various changes may be made in form, details,arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from thescope of the invention herein which, generally stated, consists in anapparatus capable of carrying out the objects above set forth, in theparts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is 1. A ski stopping structure for a loose ski inconnection with a ski mounted boot secured by a binding having incombination a bracket member adjacent the rear of said ski boot, meanssecuring said bracket member to said ski, a bearing member angledupwardly from said bracket in a direction inboard of said skis, an arm,a lower stem portion of said arm being journaled in said bearing member,said bearing member being constructed to position the journaled portionof said arm at an oblique angle with reference to the surface of saidski, an upwardly extending portion of said arm being curved inboard ofsaid ski, an upper terminal portionof said arm bearing against the upperrear portion of said boot free of any engagement with said binding andswingable forwardly downwardly clear of said ski, and means inconnection with said bracket placing said arm under tension to have thesame bear against the rear upper portion of said boot. 2. The structureset forth in claim 1, including means projecting from said bracketoutboard of said ski to limit the swinging movement of said arm. 3. Thestructure set forth in claim 1, wherein said bracket comprises a plateportion being angled upwardly in the direction of the outer edge of saidski, said plate portion supporting said spaced bearing plates, and saidbearing plates having a pair of aligned apertures therethrough receivingsaid journaled portion of said arm. 4. The structure set forth in claim3, wherein a bearing sleeve is carried by said angled plate portion ofsaid bracket.

1. A ski stopping structure for a loose ski in connection with a skimounted boot secured by a binding having in combination a bracket memberadjacent the rear of said ski boot, means securing said bracket memberto said ski, a bearing member angled upwardly from said bracket in adirection inboard of said skis, an arm, a lower stem portion of said armbeing journaled in said bearing member, said bearing member beingconstructed to position the journaled portion of said arm at an obliqueangle with reference to the surface of said ski, an upwardly extendingportion of said arm being curved inboard of said ski, an upper terminalportion of said arm bearing against the upper rear portion of said bootfree of any engagement with said binding and swingable forwardlydownwardly clear of said ski, and means in connection with said bracketplacing said arm under tension to have the same bear against the rearupper portion of said boot.
 2. The structure set forth in claim 1,including means projecting from said bracket outboard of said ski tolimit the swinging movement of said arm.
 3. The structure set forth inclaim 1, wherein said bracket comprises a plate portion being angledupwardly in the direction of the outer edge of said ski, said plateportion supporting said spaced bearing plates, and saiD bearing plateshaving a pair of aligned apertures therethrough receiving said journaledportion of said arm.
 4. The structure set forth in claim 3, wherein abearing sleeve is carried by said angled plate portion of said bracket.